After his first year as Mayor of Valley, Bernhard Schäfer (FWG) takes stock.
He underestimated some things, and he also had aha-moments.
Valley -
meetings at a distance or only online, almost no personal encounters with citizens, projects on hold: the official business of the town hall chiefs in the district has changed significantly since the outbreak of the corona virus.
The seven newcomers have never really got out of crisis mode since they started working in May 2020.
Time for an interim balance.
Today with the Mayor of Valley, Bernhard Schäfer (56, FWG).
Mr. Schäfer, what was your favorite appointment in this unusual first year as mayor?
One that can be picked out was the greeting of the first graders in the school gym.
That was the first time that I gave a speech at an official appearance.
I think I was just as excited as the first years and their parents (laughs).
The public events are likely to be more.
Personal contact is very difficult for me.
What has surprised you most in your tenure so far?
I did some research before applying for office and had a rough overview, after all, I was a local councilor for twelve years.
Nothing surprised me directly.
But the office is an ongoing learning process.
There are always aha effects.
For example, some of the preparatory work by the administration is enormous.
An item on the agenda at the local council meeting is just the tip of the iceberg.
After the session, work usually only really starts.
As a municipal council, you don't see that in the clear.
I was surprised at the force with which the pandemic hit and how it is now changing every area of life.
What percentage of your working time revolves around the corona pandemic and its effects?
It's hard to say.
Every action is now related to Corona.
It starts when I get up from my desk and have to put on the mask, or when I am in contact with citizens.
We have just drawn up the budget.
Corona is omnipresent there too.
How long did it take you to get used to the job?
I settled in quickly.
The support from the administration made it much easier for me to get started at this extraordinary time.
We all knew each other, which also accelerated settling in.
When I decided to run for mayor, it was important to me not to be the mayor and the private person.
I want to be authentic.
If I were to ride my bike through town in a suit and tie, nobody would do it for me.
Which individual project did you advance the most?
It's not about individual projects, but about the big picture.
As a mayor, you have many tasks that you don't see, such as drawing up contracts or statutes.
By and large, a lot had already been initiated, such as municipal housing, and we are working on the streets according to the list of priorities.
The expansion of Fellacher Strasse is due soon, the tender is currently underway.
In 2020, many new members joined the Valleyer Municipal Council, the Greens as a completely new parliamentary group. A generation change has taken place. How is the mood there?
It is good if there is a certain change.
We have new perspectives and approaches, that's positive.
The cooperation works well.
When you come to the parish council, of course, it takes a while to internalize how a parish works, everyone has it.
The advantage is that we are a small community: we just know each other.
The interview was conducted by Katrin Hager.
About this series:
The seven newly elected mayors and the district administrator in the Miesbach district have now been in office for one year.
In our series of interviews, they report how they experienced their start during the Corona crisis.
We also spoke to Johannes Lohwasser, Olaf von Löwis, Robert Kühn, and Christoph Schmid.
